Growing up Siamang
Posted at 8:51 am March 23, 2007 by Juan Fernandez
Currently we have a family group of four siamangs living with the orangutans at the Absolutely Apes habitat at the San Diego Zoo: resident male Unkie, 23, breeding female Eloise, 25, juvenile female Hitam Lucu, almost 3, and Karim-Alam (we haven’t determined the sex yet), born December 13, 2006 (see Juan’s previous blog, Generous Nature). Interestingly, family groups typically consist of exactly this ratio. Though not typical, families consisting of a single set of parents with three juvenile offspring have been documented.
Hitam Lucu will most likely remain with her natal group for a few more years. In the wild, adolescents remain with their natal groups until they become sexually mature at about nine years of age. In regard to the eventual exiling of adolescents from the group, there seems to be no significant variations between females and males and the age at which the process takes place. This usually occurs when the adolescent males and females make advances toward any other current breeding group members (this means mom and dad). Exiling the adolescents ensures that the genetic pool remains diverse and minimizes competition and inbreeding.
Although Karim-Alam’s sex has not yet been determined, we are currently leaning toward female. Unkie and Eloise have produced four other offspring. All currently reside at other institutions per Species Survival Plan recommendations.
So far, the introductions between little Karim-Alam and the orangutans have been barely noticed, with the exception of our 11-year-old male orangutan, Satu. He has been very curious about inspecting his future playmate since he and little siamang sister Hitam-Lucu get along so well. (Read a blog about Satu: The Next Orangutan Goes Out.)
Other introductions that are occurring are between Cinta, our 3-year-old orangutan, and Hitam Lucu. Our goal is to successfully introduce the youngsters so they can get to know each other better in a more controlled environment. Most of the initial introductions are in their bedrooms prior to putting them out on exhibit. We have had some aggressive behavior between both the adult siamangs and orangutan parents in the past. By introducing both youngsters to each other first and having the parents visually see them getting along, we hope to decrease, if not eliminate, any further aggression between the two in future introductions.
Juan Fernandez is a senior keeper at the San Diego Zoo.
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March 23rd, 2007 at 11:13 am
Thanks Juan for the update. I am puzzled, and need your help clarifying something.
You mentioned that Satu and Hitam Lucu are great playmates, which must mean that they are on exhibit together, per the photo with the description of Hitam Lucu. You also mentioned that Cinta’s parents and Hitam Lucu’s parents have had aggression in the past. Where are Hitam Lucu’s parents when she is playing with Satu? Does he have aggression with Unkie and Eloise? How does he react to Cinta since Cinta and Hitam Lucu are the same age? How does he react to Indah? If he is calm and friendly toward Hitam Lucu would that not indicate that Indah and Hitam’s parents would be calm as well?
Was the previous aggression displayed after Hitam Lucu and Cinta were born or from Unkie and Eloise’s prior offspring?
March 23rd, 2007 at 1:57 pm
The aggression that has been observed has been between Unkie and Indah. Ever since Indah gave birth to Cinta a few years back Unkie has been very forceful with Indah and Cinta. Perhaps because he knows it isn’t his offspring? We don’t know. Therefore Indah and Cinta are shifted off exhibit about noon, and then the siamang family is put out on exhibit with the rest of the orangutans.
April 4th, 2007 at 3:15 pm
I visited the zoo a couple of weeks ago and I am having to write a report on two Non-Human Primates and I chose the Siamangs and Orangutans.I am just interested to find out if you have determined Karim-Alam sex yet? Also his or her weight? So I can add it to my report.
Thank You very much.
April 11th, 2007 at 11:26 am
Thanks, Keeper Juan, for the clarification. It is sad to think that Cinta doesn’t get to play with the young Siamangs, but that is the life of the primate, and only they know for “sure” why they act like they do.
Is Unkie otherwise an aggressive animal? Maybe he just doesn’t care for Indah or Cinta???
What is the large domed structure you can see in the background behind Absolutely Apes? The picture of the Ape exhibit is the clearest I can recall, and I can more clearly see the length of the exhibit and just noticed the building in the background. I was wondering if it is either a tropical habitat or a bird enclosure.
Moderator’s note: The structure you see in the background is the Zoo’s Owens Rain Forest Aviary.